Fernandez runs into record books

Friday

Nov 23, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 23, 2012 at 8:56 AM

Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but the Wareham Vikings had no problem serving some up on an unseasonably warm Thanksgiving Day behind their red-hot offense, as they roasted Bourne 52-12 at Spillane Field.

TIM WEISBERG

WAREHAM — Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but the Wareham Vikings had no problem serving some up on an unseasonably warm Thanksgiving Day behind their red-hot offense, as they roasted Bourne 52-12 at Spillane Field.

After being outscored 84-6 by the Canalmen in the previous two Thanksgiving Day clashes, the Vikings wanted retribution just as much as they wanted to get senior running back Darien Fernandez into the record books.

"They did snatch us up pretty good the last few years, so now they get to go home and see how it feels," Wareham coach Dan Nault said.

Fernandez carried the ball 22 times for 226 yards, and scored four touchdowns. That gives him the Wareham career touchdown record (35, breaking Hart Andrade's record of 34 set in 1998), and, along with a two-point conversion run in the game, the single-season scoring record (152 points, breaking Tommy Souto's mark set in 1973). His 22 touchdowns on the season also ties the Wareham record, which Andrade also set in 1998.

While the respect these two teams have for another is palpable, it's also clear that each side relishes the opportunity to raise the Superintendent's Trophy, and after Bourne took it home the past two seasons — winning 42-0 in 2011 and 42-6 in 2010 — the Vikings didn't just want to win, but they wanted to get payback.

"We just wanted to get revenge, and go out with a bang for the seniors," Fernandez said. "Nine and two sounds a lot better than 8-3 with a loss to Bourne on Thanksgiving, so we just tried to get everyone pumped before the game, and our seniors showed up."

It was also essentially Wareham's Super Bowl, since a 21-8 loss to Dighton-Rehoboth on Nov. 2 eliminated the Vikings from postseason contention.

"That loss to D-R really hurt us, but we just had to come back in these last two games and show we're better than that," Fernandez said. "It meant a lot to us to do that."

The Vikings scored early and often, with seven touchdowns in the game. Fernandez got Wareham on the board first on a 9-yard run with just over 35 seconds to play in the first quarter, but Bourne cut the Vikings' lead to 8-6 a few minutes later, when senior quarterback Zach Songer connected on a 24-yard touchdown pass to senior Josh Curry. But on Wareham's next possession, Vikings senior quarterback Anthony Abbott broke through a number of tackles on a 46-yard blast into the end zone that really ignited the rout.

The Vikings tacked on a 9-yard score from senior Charles Tranfaglia to close out the first half up 24-6.

In the second half, after Fernandez scored on another 9-yard run, junior lineman Owen Braley recovered a Bourne fumble on their first possession of the second half and trucked it 35 yards into the end zone. Fernandez then added TD runs of 71 and 56 yards to close out his high school career as perhaps the most prolific running back in Wareham history.

Fernandez would have had the single-season touchdown record outright, but a penalty took it away. After forcing Bourne into a fourth-and-eight in the first few moments of the second quarter, Fernandez returned the punt all the way to the end zone for what would have been his second score of the game. However, an illegal block in the back by the Vikings negated the return.

"What can you do?" Fernandez asked.

It was the seventh touchdown that he had called back due to penalty this season.

"I know in my heart that I have the (single-season TD) record (outright), but it's just not going to be in the record books," Fernandez said.

The game also serves as a perfect bookend of the high school football careers of Wareham's 13 seniors, most of whom never had the opportunity to defeat Bourne on Thanksgiving Day.

"I think we all matured as a team," Fernandez said. "Sophomore year, we all started, and we went 1-10. The next year, we had six wins, and now, we have nine. We just matured and worked hard, and we can leave this field knowing that."

WHAT IT MEANS: With Dighton-Rehoboth dispatching Seekonk 21-7 on Thanksgiving, Wareham doesn't clinch a share of the South Coast Conference title with the Falcons. However, the 2012 Vikings became the sixth Wareham team in the last 20 years to win nine or more games, adding to a strong football tradition in the Gateway.

MORE FROM NAULT: "Going into the game, we just worried about ourselves, and being ready to play. It was a hard week — so many things that we had to take care of, and with 10 days to prepare, we almost got them ready to play too early. It was like pulling teeth the last couple of days. We were going over stuff, and they were like, 'We know, we know, we know.'"

OFFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME: Just about three minutes into the fourth quarter, Fernandez took the handoff at the Wareham 44-yard line on just the second play of the series. He started running it up the middle, spinning out of not one but two tackles as he broke to the right side, and followed his blocks perfectly to find some daylight as he closed in on the end zone. With two Bourne defenders barreling toward at him around the 10-yard line, Fernandez found an extra gear to score the touchdown that gave him the career TD mark outright and tied him for the single-season record.

DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME: Senior defensive end Jeff Houde's diving tackle of Songer on fourth-and-four during the Canalmen's opening drive. He knocked Songer, who ran up the left side on a keeper, out of bounds just shy of the first-down marker, killing all momentum that Bourne had built up during the 10-play series. The reeling Canalmen never really recovered after that. "It took a little while for our kids to adjust on defense," Nault said. "I think what's lost in all this scoring is that our kids played really good defense today." And all season as well — the Vikings never allowed an opponent to score more than 14 points in any of their nine wins.

SOUTHCOASTVARSITY.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: While Fernandez gets the nod for his record-breaking performance, the junior varsity and backup varsity players deserve some recognition for sacrificing their own playing time to keep him on the field, surrounded by those who had helped him reach those records. "At the end of the game, I'm trying to put the jayvees in, and they refused to go in," Nault said, as his younger Vikings wanted to see Fernandez get the record with his classmates blocking for him. "It was just unselfish play. Those kids really wanted to play in this game too, but they wanted the older kids to have it."

NOTES: With Wareham winning this 82nd Thanksgiving Day matchup between these two teams, the Vikings now lead the series all-time at 52-29-1€»Slated for a 10 a.m. kickoff, the game instead started at 9:49 a.m€»Fernandez finishes the season with 160 carries for 1,299 yards. In addition to his 22 touchdowns, he's also thrown for two TDs as well in the Polecat, Wareham's version of the Wildcat€»Abbott's rushing touchdown was his seventh such score of the season. He also threw for six, including five to Cody Stahmer€»Abbott and Stahmer would have connected on their sixth TD combo of the season in the second quarter, but the officials ruled that Stahmer's foot was out in the back of the end zone when he hauled in the catch€»The Canalmen played without injured senior running back Chad Marsh, who led Bourne with 17 touchdowns, and without injured junior back Marquesse Rhodes€»The WHS marching band and WHS alumni band played together for the first time at halftime, with a tribute to super heroes such as Captain America, Spiderman and Iron Man€»Nault said there was talk before the game of a special introduction ceremony that would alternate between introducing a Bourne player and a Wareham player and having the two meet at midfield to shake hands, but the Vikings nixed the idea because they didn't want to take away from the intensity leading into the game. "In our program, we give the older kids a lot of say in the decision-making, and they weren't interested in alternating introductions and shaking hands. They were just interested in (butt) kicking," Nault said.